Midnight Musings of a Colonel
by puritymatters
Summary: One bored Colonel. One long night. Makes for some interesting conversation.


Midnight Musings of a Colonel

_By puritymatters _

_Previously posted in '02 under my first pseudonym Tarra O'Neal_

Jack sat in his office with the desk light on. He couldn't sleep again, but that was becoming a common occurrence. He was tapping his "Marines" pen on his desk. He had been flipping through a magazine a few weeks ago when he saw the ad to receive a free ink pen if you sent off for info about joining the Marines; he couldn't resist getting a free pen, even if it was put out by Jarheads! He'd been trying to figure out this crossword puzzle for an hour now. He didn't know why he tried. He really hated crosswords, considering every time he tried to solve one he had to crack open a dictionary. It wasn't even his word puzzle book, it was Carter's. It seemed a lot of her stuff ended up in his office.

Carter. That was another thing he'd been thinking about, or trying not to think about. He'd been almost ignoring her for the last few months, at least on a personal basis, even though he knew he was hurting her. It was the whole regulations thing. At first that was all that was stopping him from pursuing a relationship with her. Now he really didn't care about rules. He didn't know how much longer the Stargate operation would continue; could be several more months or it could be several years. At any rate he didn't want to wait that long. Not knowing at any time, any mission, one of them may not make it back. Both of them had had too many close calls.

Heck, not a couple weeks ago she was kidnapped by Adrian Conrad, to experiment on her, concerning and alien symbiote he had acquired. And now there was an angry Goa'uld on the loose in the form of Adrian Conrad. It was amazing that Carter made it out alive. If he hadn't found her in time, she wouldn't have. And he didn't want to see the day that she wouldn't. He wanted to be there for her today, tomorrow, for the rest of their lives even. As long as it had taken him to admit it to himself, he wasn't going to hide it anymore. He loved her. More than life itself. Sure, he loved Sara, she was his first love, and he would probably always love her, in a way. But he ached for Sam. If something ever happened to her, he wouldn't be able to go on himself.

At that last thought, he promised himself he wouldn't let another day go by without at least showing her how he felt about her. They had had their moments and they never let it go any further. But not anymore.

Footsteps echoing down the hallway interrupted his thoughts. He didn't know who could be roaming the base at this hour. Daniel had went out with Janet and Cassandra and were going to be out quite late due to a foreign film festival at the local Cineplex (how fun—not!) And Teal'c, well he wasn't sure where Teal'c was; he thought he heard him mention something about watching Star Wars again (for the umpteenth time.) And he was pretty sure it wasn't Carter, though he could always hope. He envisioned Sam walking through his partially open door. As though his thoughts made her materialize, she poked her head around the edge of the door. He must be dreaming. That's it, he fell asleep on his desk and he'll wake up with a stiff neck and an imprint of a crossword puzzle on his forehead.

"Sir, I saw your light on. I thought you went home," Sam said.

"I did. I couldn't sleep so I came back. Thought I might get some paper work done," Jack remarked casually.

Sam came around the back of his desk and leaned over his shoulder.

"Yes, I can see why you were putting it off. That's a complicated one," Sam smirked referring to his puzzle.

"Oh, I was uh, just taking a break, that's all," Jack grumbled.

"I'd never doubt you, sir," she smiled.

Oh how he loved that smile.

"Are you stumped? Want some help," Sam asked.

"Sure, pull up a chair," he offered, a legion of Jaffa were stomping around in his stomach.

"Okay Miss Quiz Whiz, what is an eight letter word for a cross-country ski run," Jack questioned tapping his pen on his desk again.

"Well let's see," she concentrated.

After a minute or so her face lit up and she eased Jack's pen out of his hand. Their fingers brushed, causing an electrical current to run through them. Sam glanced sideways, briefly meeting his eyes. She scribbled out some words on a piece of scratch paper. Finally settling on one word, she wrote in the blanks of the puzzle.

"Langlauf. Sheesh, I should've known that. I didn't know you knew anything about skiing," Jack asked in an amazed tone.

"Yeah, when I was fifteen Dad took me to Aspen. I learned everything I could about skiing. By the time we left I knew nearly everything there was to know. I had even dreamed about being the youngest skier to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. As you can see I didn't pursue it. But I still like to go skiing every now and then," Sam said with an almost dream-like look on her face.

Jack hadn't known about this part of her. But he liked it. He decided he was definitely going to take her skiing sometime soon.

"Why don't we put our heads together on this? That is if you want to finish it sometime tonight," Sam suggested.

"Oh, uh, sure," he mumbled.

They laughed over their mistakes, and kicked themselves when they couldn't think of the answer when they should know it.

"Here you should know this one. The founder of Dodge City, Kansas," Sam read from the puzzle book.

"Ooh, I got it! Marshall Dillon," Jack stated obviously pleased with himself.

Sam burst out in hysterical laughter. She couldn't help it. Jack had the driest yet funniest sense of humor.

"What? I'm right aren't I," he asked sincerely.

"Not even close. You're confusing history with television," she said still laughing.

"Oh well I knew that," Jack said mock seriously.

Their eyes met again. Sam was shocked by the strong emotion emanating from Jack's eyes. She had fallen for Jack a long time ago. Probably the first time they met. This was the first time in weeks Jack had actually paid her any attention.

Jack slowly leaned over to Sam. He searched her face, her eyes. Searched to make sure his feelings were returned. Sam moved in a few inches. That was all the encouragement Jack needed. He raised his hand to her face and brushed aside a strand of light blond hair. Sam closed her eyes and turned into his touch.

"Sam," Jack whispered.

A small sigh escaped her lips. This was heaven. If she ever found a place that she felt safe, it was here. With her colonel, her Jack. She was home.

Their lips met; gentle at first, then yearning; wanting more. Now was the moment to decide if it went any further. This could change everything.

Sam brought her arm up to encircle his neck. That's it, she just made the decision for him. There was no turning back.

Jack pulled away first, but only far enough back to look at her.

"You know what this means don't you," he asked her.

"We need to do something that we've never really done before," Sam offered.

Jack raised a brow and smiled slightly.

"Not that! I mean we need to talk about where we're heading in this relationship, what we want," she said.

"How about I tell you what I don't want," Jack paused, "I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to look at you from a distance and know I can't have you. I don't want _this_ to go away."

"I want to go forward, if you want to go forward," Sam questioned hesitantly.

"How about we get outta here and go somewhere where we can talk some more. I kinda like this talking thing. As long as I'm with you," Jack suggested.

"What about your place," Sam smiled shyly.

"Sounds good," he said.

They both rose to their feet. Jack flipped off the desk lamp then reached for Sam's hand. As they walked down the corridor, their fingers intertwined. A sign of their strong friendship and the promise of their future.

~finis~


End file.
